FREE webinar tomorrow!

The most common question we get from our colleagues across the industry is how we think agents should be generating leads in today’s market. It’s harder to make deals in this market than it was last year, and we understand that.

When we came to LA from the UK over 15 years ago, nobody told us how to generate leads. We just put ourselves out there and did it with a lot of trial and error. We’re sharing that story, and the valuable lessons we learned from it, in a free webinar tomorrow at 11am PST.

All you have to do is reserve your spot HERE. We’ll also be taking questions at the end, so be sure to come ready with questions for us. We don’t do this often, so this is absolutely an opportunity you do not want to miss.

– James and David

Foreclosures drop for the first time since 2021

Completed foreclosures declined in January for the first time since June 2021. Lenders repossessed 3,896 properties through foreclosure in January, down 19% from last year. Foreclosure starts also declined slightly in January, down 1% from December 2022.

These states had the largest annual drop in completed foreclosures:

1. Florida (-53%)

2. Maryland (-23%)

3. Michigan (-22%)

4. New Jersey (-15%)

5. Texas (-14%)

Our take

This is the primary reason we think we are in a VERY healthy housing market. There’s so much equity in homes and homeowners have incredible rates, so there’s no reason for people to be losing their homes. Remember that what happened two years ago was NOT NORMAL. This market is what’s normal! This news shows us that now is a great time to be an agent because we have a real opportunity to shine for our clients with hard work and knowledge.

Investor home buying takes record plunge

Investor home buying fell a record 45.8% YoY in Q4 as homebuyer demand cooled. This drop even beat the decline at the height of the 2008 housing crisis. This dip is being driven by potential for home-price drops and high loan rates.

Here are other key takeaways:

• Overall home purchases in Q4 fell 40.8% from a year earlier

• Investors pulled back from single-family homes and high-priced properties more than they did from condos, townhomes, and low-priced properties

• Pandemic boomtowns Las Vegas and Phoenix saw the biggest drops in investor purchases

Our take

This makes complete sense. The economy has cooled off after the pandemic, and inflation hasn’t helped. We’re taking this news as a good sign because that means there are more homes available with less competition.

The 10 fastest-growing single-family home rental markets

After slumping at the end of 2022, the asking rents for single-family homes are on the rise. The median asking rent for 3-bedroom single-family rentals grew to $1,848 in January, up 7.4% from the month before.

Here are the cities with the fastest-growing 3-bedroom home rental prices in 2023:

1. Albany, GA (+42.8%)

2. Fort Smith, AR/OK (+36.6%)

3. Santa Barbara, CA (+35.4%)

4. Rochester, NY (+33.3%)

5. Anderson, IN (+33%)

6. Rochester, MN (+32.3%)

7. Kalamazoo, MI (+31.9%)

8. Monroe, LA (+30.2%)

9. Greenville, NC (+25%)

10. Lawton, OK (+24.7%)

Our take

This is an interesting list, especially if you are looking for an investment opportunity. If rents are rising and you have cash, this is definitely a way to earn passive income. And if you’re an agent in one of these markets, definitely use this to your advantage to reach out to new buyers. Let them know that this is a good time to make a purchase!

Schematics

The news that just missed the cut

• Mark Wahlberg asks $87.5M, gets $55M for LA mansion

• Check out these space-saving living room ideas

• Here are the top 5 challenges for brokers in 2023

• Lenders are thinking outside the box to entice buyers

• Meta is rolling out paid verification with Meta Verified

🎧 Rise Above the Ranks

In this week’s Rise Above the Ranks podcast, Jon Grauman and Adam Rosenfeld join us to talk about the week's top real estate news, how agents should spend their time, and how to handle objections.

Here's what we dig into in this episode:

• Are we in a buyer's or seller's market? We've heard that the housing market is shifting and moving toward buyers having all the leverage. We share why we disagree with this observation and tell you what we believe is really happening with the market.

• How should agents be spending their time? Our business has so many aspects: client outreach, networking, admin tasks, marketing, and more. It's hard to know what you should really focus on. We tell you where agents should put their focus in order to grow their business.

• How should agents handle objections? Every agent deals with objections from clients, but the standout agents have answers ready to go! We share some real objections that we received from clients recently and how we handled them.

Want the full scoop? Check out the episode → Apple | Spotify | YouTube

Q&A

You ask, James and David answer!

We’ll be back next week with another answer to a real reader question. Submit yours here!

Just in Case

Keep the latest industry data in your back pocket with today’s mortgage rates:

Don’t forget about tomorrow’s FREE webinar where we’re sharing how to generate leads in today’s market! Reserve your spot HERE.

That’s all for this edition of The Blueprint. Have an amazing week, and we’ll see you on Friday!

– James and David